Hello, My Name Is Christine And I Hate The "What Do You Do" Question.
You've been there. You know what I'm talking about.
Those situations you find yourself in where you've got a lanyard hanging on your neck all day and polite conversation in line for coffee during a break in the conference eventually leads to ...the question.
"So...what do you do?"
I hate this question. It makes me feel self conscious. I even hate explaining why it makes me feel self conscious. It just does.
Because I do a lot of things. But saying that sometimes sounds like I do nothing at all when you're in a situation where all you want is two packs of Splenda.
So what exactly do I do?
I'm still trying to figure out my elevator pitch for this year.
Catching up at lunch yesterday I was telling my insanely smart friend Kevin about this frustration of mine.
He said I was a Tummler.
"...conversational catalyst within a group, to welcome newcomers, rein in old hands and set the tone of the conversation so that it can become a community."
It's a Yiddish word. I didn't fully understand it the first time I heard him talk about it while watching the video from his talk at Web 2.0 Expo. I totally get it now.
Clarity over a bowl of ramen. I love it.
So now I feel much better going into the new year feeling like there's a place for me at the big kids table.
But I'm still not sure how to answer the "what do you do" question.
I think I'll just avoid the coffee lines at conferences until I figure that one out.
